1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network device and a network control device in a Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN), and a secure wake-up method and a wake-up authentication code (WAC) generation method of the network device and the network control device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) act to wirelessly sense and monitor a person's vital functions, and are based on a low cost Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technology. WBANs may greatly benefit personal health-care in hospitals, residences and work environments, and may provide a better quality of life. One bottleneck in WBANs is that it is very difficult or inconvenient to recharge batteries of Body Area Network nodes (BNs). To increase the lifespan of devices in a WSN, various wake-up schemes have been proposed. However, most of these schemes are not designed specifically for a WBAN having a star topology, and none take security into consideration in a wake-up procedure.
Schemes to protect a wake-up radio signal are still under research. Particularly, security has become a major issue in a WBAN using a wake-up radio signal. Serious consequences can result when an external user may arbitrarily wake up BNs which are implanted and in sleep state, regardless of whether the external user wakes up the BNs unintentionally or maliciously.
Accordingly, there is a desire for a new secure wake-up scheme and method.